Take up-type screen device

ABSTRACT

A retractable screen device including a screen frame formed by upper and lower frame members and right and left side frames, each having a fixed cross section along its entire axis, and corner linking members linking the ends of the frame members and side frames together at four corners of the screen frame. One of a pair of corner linking members situated at the ends of the side frame carrying a screen winding shaft includes a winding mechanism that is movable into and out of the winding shaft to cause the winding shaft to wind a screen thereon with aid of an adjustable spring force, while the other corner linking member includes a stopper mechanism that is movable into and out of the winding shaft to define an adjustable limit to a degree of unwinding of the screen from the winding shaft.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a retractable screen that is installedin the opening portion of a building for the purpose of insect-proofing,light-shielding, heat insulation, and as a blind, and specificallyrelates to an improved retractable screen device wherein, by cuttingedge portions for the upper and lower frame material and the right andleft side frames in an arbitrary length, and using corresponding cornerlinking material to link these together, the dimensions can be easilymade to fit the opening portion of a building even if the user is notwell-practiced in this skill.

2. Discussion of the Background

In general, retractable screen devices have been widely known that areinstalled in an opening portion of a building for the purpose ofinsect-proofing, light-shielding, heat insulation, shading, and soforth. In the case of installing such retractable screen devices in theopening portion of a building, the screen frame needs to be of thedimensions that fit with the size of the opening, and this dimensionfitting is performed by cutting the upper and lower frame material andthe left and right side frames in the necessary length corresponding tothe aforementioned opening portion dimensions, and linking the edgeportions of the upper and lower frame material and the left and rightside frames with corresponding corner linking material.

However, if the dimension fitting is only for this type of screen frame,the user and others can perform this relatively easily, and thereforethe necessary materials and parts can be sold as a set, but in the caseof a screen device that comprises a winding mechanism wherein the screenis wound on to a winding shaft using a spring for winding, the assemblyof the winding mechanism is not necessarily simple, and alsolatter-described problems may occur, and therefore the user must eitherobtain a product that fits the dimensions of the building openingportion, or hire a professional worker for the dimension adjustmentwork.

In other words, with the screen device described above which enablesdimension fitting, the upper and lower frame material is shortenedaccording to the width of the building opening portion, and the lengthof the screen to be pulled out is shortened accordingly, resulting innot only the necessity to adjust the strength of the winding spring, butthe remaining screen is in the state of being wound on the winding shafteven in the state wherein the screen is spread over the screen frame,and therefore the screen can bend widely due to the wind or otherexternal forces, and it becomes necessary to consider countermeasures.

In particular, in the case that a winding shaft is provided on the leftand right side frames and the screen is open both on the left and rightsides, the winding shaft that winds each screen has an additional screenwound onto it, and therefore in the case of pulling out each screen tospread them, only enough screen to cover half of the building openingwidth needs to be pulled out, but because of the additional allowance inthe length of the screen, the screen can possibly be pulled out furtherthan the pullout limit, and a countermeasure becomes necessary, such asthe user keeping this in mind at the time of use, or providing a stopperto set the pullout limit.

Further, in the case that the length of the screen has an additionalallowance and the screen is pulled out more than necessary due to anexternal force such as the wind and bends widely, the upper and loweredges of the screen can be derailed from the guide grooves of the upperand lower frame, and if the screen is wound onto the winding shaft inthis state, one portion of the screen is over the guide groove wall, andso from this portion on is wound in a wrinkled state and opening andclosing of the screen thereafter is not smooth. Therefore, theappropriate setting of the above-described screen unwinding limit isimportant, but even with such settings the upper and lower edges of thescreen may be derailed from the guide grooves, and thereforeconsideration is necessary for the screen to be wound smoothly even inthe case of derailing.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

A technical object of the present invention is to provide a retractablescreen device wherein a retractable screen device equipped with awinding mechanism for propagating the pressure force of the spring forwinding the screen to this winding shaft is installed in the openingportion of a building, in which case the upper and lower frame materialand the right and left side frames of the screen frame are cut to thenecessary lengths corresponding to the aforementioned opening portiondimensions, and the dimensions fitting the size of the opening portionare easily adjustable.

Another technical object of the present invention is to provide aretractable screen device wherein the retractable screen device isequipped with a winding device, and when the dimensions of the upper andlower frame material and the right and left side frames of the screenframe are adjusted to correspond with the aforementioned opening portiondimensions, the adjustment of the winding force of the aforementionedwinding mechanism and the setting of the limits for pulling out thescreen can be performed easily.

Another technical object of the present invention is to provide aretractable screen device wherein the screen can be wound smoothly evenif the upper and lower edges of the screen derail from the guidegrooves.

Yet another technical object of the present invention is to provideconvenience in both the manufacturing and assembling of theabove-described retractable screen device as much as possible.

With a retractable screen device according to the present invention forsolving the aforementioned problems, a screen frame is configured bycutting edge portions for the upper and lower frame material and theright and left side frames in an arbitrary length, and using cornerlinking material to link these by alternately attaching these linkingportions, one edge of the screen if a single screen, and one edge fromeach side for a screen that opens to both the left and right, to bespread within this frame is wound onto the winding shaft provided on oneside of the aforementioned side frame, and the other edge of this screenis linked to a movable rail that is guided by the frame body of theaforementioned upper and lower units; wherein a winding mechanism isprovided on one side of the corner linking material of both edges of theside frame providing the aforementioned winding shaft, so as to becapable of insertion into or removal from the winding shaft, to whichthe pressing force of an adjustable spring for linking to the windingshaft and winding the screen to this winding shaft is propagated; and astopper mechanism is provided on the other side of the aforementionedlinking material, so as to be capable of insertion into or removal fromthe winding shaft, wherein the limit of the screen unwinding by therotation of the winding shaft is adjustable.

With the winding mechanism according to the above retractable screendevice, a spring receptacle on the base edge side for inserting into thewinding shaft and a spring support shaft that is fixed thereupon isprovided to the corner linking material via a clutch mechanism, andwhile one edge of the winding spring is wound and fixed to theaforementioned base edge side spring receptacle, the other edge of thespring wound and fixed to the winding shaft side spring receptacleprovided on the spring support shaft so as to be capable of rotating,and the spring receptacle on this winding shaft side rotates integrallywith the winding shaft, but is attached to the winding shaft in theaxial direction of the winding shaft so as to be capable of moving;wherein the aforementioned clutch mechanism prevents the base edge sidespring receptacle from rotating due to the spring pressing force, butthe rotation of the operation ring provided on the corner linkingmaterial can be propagated to the spring support shaft for the purposeof adjusting the pressing force of the spring for winding the screen.

Further, with the stopper mechanism according to the aforementionedretractable screen device, the screw shaft for inserting the cornerlinking materials into the winding shaft is linked via the clutchmechanism, and a nut that rotates integrally with the winding shaft butis capable of moving in the axial direction is screwed in to this screwshaft, and a stopper for setting the limit of the nut advancing isprovided on the aforementioned screw shaft, and is configured so thatwhen the winding shaft is rotated in the screen unwinding direction thenut advances along the screw shaft towards the stopper; and theaforementioned clutch mechanism prevents rotation of the screw shaftfrom rotating due to the rotational force of the winding shaft and soforth, but the rotation of the operation ring provided on the cornerlinking material can be propagated to the screw shaft for the purpose ofadjusting the limit of the screen unwinding.

With the retractable screen device that has the aforementionedconfiguration, the upper and lower frame material and the right and leftside frames of the screen frame are cut to the necessary lengths tocorrespond with the dimensions of the building opening portion, and bymutually fitting and linking these edge portion to the portions linkingwith corner linking material, a screen frame can be configured whereinthe dimension thereof fits the size of the building opening portion, andthis is equipped with a winding mechanism for winding the screen bypressing force of a spring, wherein this winding mechanism is providedon the corner linking material of one edge of the side frame on which isprovided the aforementioned winding shaft, and because this can beinserted or removed from the winding shaft, even if the side frameequipped with the winding shaft is adjusted to an arbitrary length, theassembly of the winding mechanism to the screen frame can be performedeasily.

Additionally, this winding mechanism is adjustable from the outsideafter assembling the spring pressing force for winding the spring,because of the operating ring provided on the corner linking material,and therefore, even if the screen frame dimensions are set arbitrarily,the screen winding force on the winding shaft can be set appropriately.

Further, on the other side of the aforementioned corner linking materiala stopper mechanism is provided that is capable of adjusting the limitof screen unwinding by the rotation of the winding shaft, and thereforeby performing the appropriate adjustments thereof, even if the length ofthe upper and lower frame material is arbitrarily set, the additionalallowance of the screen that is wound onto the winding shaft will notwidely bend due to the wind or another external force, and even in thecase that the screen opens to both the left and right by providingwinding shafts on the left and right side frames, the additional screenwill not be pulled out more to cover more than ½ the area of thebuilding opening width. Further, the aforementioned stopper mechanism iscapable of adjusting the screen unwinding limit arbitrarily from theoutside by the operating ring provided on the corner linking material,and therefore, even if the dimensions of the upper and lower framematerial are set arbitrarily, the appropriate unwinding length can beeasily set. Further, by providing this stopper mechanism, the length ofthe screen does not need to be cut short to fit with the dimensions ofthe upper and lower frame material when assembling the screen device.

Additionally, the stopper mechanism is provided on the corner linkingmaterial so as to be capable of inserting into or removing from thewinding shaft, and therefore similar to the case of the aforementionedwinding mechanism, even if the side frames are adjusted to an arbitrarylength, the assembly of the stopper mechanism to the screen frame can beperformed easily.

With the aforementioned retractable screen device, guide grooves areprovided to guide the upper and lower edges of the screen along theupper and lower frame material, and an extension portion for theaforementioned guide groove is provided on the corner linking materialthat is positioned on the upper and lower edges of the side frameequipped with the winding shaft, and a guide groove for returning thescreen derailed from the guide groove when winding the screen on to thewinding shaft into the extension portion in the groove wall wherein theextension portion is configured is provided along the winding width ofthe screen on the winding shaft, which is effective for winding thescreen that is pulled out from the guide groove smoothly onto thewinding shaft so as not to have any wrinkles, and at the same time forreturning the screen derailed from the groove back into the correctposition along with the winding.

Further, with the aforementioned retractable screen device, by makingthe left and right side frames and the rail material for the movablerail and the winding shaft for the screen the same length, and alsomaking the upper and lower frame material the same length, a movablerail that fits the screen frame can be formed, or alternatively, makingthe upper and lower frame material common, the corner linking materialof the upper and lower material is formed vertically symmetrically,except for the winding mechanism and the stopper mechanism, wherein bothedges of the winding shaft are supported by the supporting face of thecorner linking material via a washer, so as to be capable of rotating,and the screen frame can be used when turned upside down, and thus iseffective when considering the convenience of manufacturing, assembly,and construction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a disassembled perspective view illustrating a firstembodiment of a retractable screen device relating to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cutaway frontal view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan cross-sectional view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the principal portions ofthe corner linking material having a winding mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a plan cross-sectional view illustrating a second embodimentof a retractable screen device relating to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 illustrate one embodiment wherein a retractablescreen device relating to the present invention is used as aninsect-prevention screen door, and this retractable screen deviceincludes a screen frame 1 that comprises upper and lower frame material2 and 3 and left and right side frames 4 and 5, which are linked withcorner linking material 6, 7, 8, and 9. The aforementioned upper andlower frame material 2 and 3 are configured with a fixed cross-sectionby using a common extrusion material of such as aluminum or plastic, andcan be cut to an arbitrary length to fit the opening width of thebuilding opening portion.

Further, the above-mentioned pair of side frames 4 and 5 are an exampleof the illustrated state of the screen device with one side beingopened, and the one side frame 4 comprises a winding box that houses awinding shaft 12 of a screen 11, and the other edge of the screen 11wherein one edge is fixed on this winding shaft 12 is fixed to a movablerail 13 that guides the upper and lower frame body 2 and 3, and bymoving this movable rail 13 to the position of the side frame 5 on theother end, the screen 11 is spread across the entirety of the screenframe 1. With the screen device thus configured, the aforementioned oneside frame 4 only is configured as the winding box, and the other sideframe 5 is configured as the rail receptacle that receives the movablerail 13 when the screen is spread. However, in the case to be describedbelow, wherein both sides are opened, both side frames 4 and 5 areconfigured as winding boxes.

By linking the edge portions of the upper and lower frame material 2 and3 and the right and left side frames 4 and 5 that are cut to anarbitrary length with the corresponding corner linking materials 6through 9, the aforementioned screen frame 1 is configured. The upperand lower corner linking material 6 and 8 that link the space betweenthe aforementioned upper and lower frame material 2 and 3 and the upperand lower edges of the side frame 4 that make up the winding box areformed to be vertically symmetrical, except for the winding mechanism 20and the stopper mechanism 40 to be described below that are linkedthereto, and the linking of the corner linking material 6 and 8 and theside frame 4 is made by fitting and abutting linking portions 4 a and 4b of the upper and lower edges of the side frame 4 to linking portions 6a and 8 a that are on the corner linking material 6 and 8, and fasteningwith screws 16 from the upper and lower edges. Further, the cornerlinking material 6 and 8 and the upper and lower frame material 2 and 3are linked, as clearly illustrated in FIG. 1, by fitting and abuttinglinking portions 6 b and 8 b of the corner linking material 6 and 8 tothe linking portions 2 a and 3 a on the end portions of the upper andlower frame material 2 and 3, and fixing as necessary with screws and soforth.

On the other hand, the upper and lower corner linking material 7 and 9that link the upper and lower frame material 2 and 3 and the side frame5 that comprises a rail receptacle is formed to have an verticalsymmetrical form, and similar to the case of linking the aforementionedcorner linking material unit 6 and 8 and the side frame 4, the linkingof the corner linking material 7 and 9 and the side frame 5 is linked byfitting and abutting the linking portions 5 a and 5 b of the upper andlower edges of the side frame 5 to the linking portions 7 a and 9 a thatare on the corner linking material 7 and 9, and fastening with thescrews 16 from the upper and lower edges. Further, the corner linkingmaterial 7 and 9 and the upper and lower frame material 2 and 3 arelinked by fitting the linking portions 7 b and 9 b of the corner linkingmaterial 7 and 9 up against the linking portions 2 a and 3 a on the endportions of the upper and lower frame material 2 and 3, and fixing asnecessary with screws and so forth.

Further, regarding the movable rail 13, similar to the side frames 4 and5, a rail material 14 of a fixed cross-section is cut to the necessarylength, and is configured by providing caps 15 a and 15 b to slide alongthe guide groove formed in the upper and lower frame material 2 and 3 onboth sides. Now, this movable rail 13 is provided with a latch 18 on theconcave portion of the side frame 5 that comprises the rail receptaclein the center position for retaining elastically.

The aforementioned left and right side frames 4 and 5 and the railmaterial 14 of the movable rail 13 and the aforementioned screen windingshaft 12 are formed to the same length, and thus the necessary screenframe 1 and the movable rail 13 that applies thereto is designed, andfurther, the screen frame is formed with the same length of the upperand lower frame material 2 and 3. Therefore, by cutting these rawmaterials to the same fixed length that correspond to the dimensions ofthe building opening portion with an appropriate cutting tool or acutting device, the screen frame 1 with the predetermined size can beassembled.

The corner linking material 6 on the upper side of the side frame 4 thathas the aforementioned winding shaft 12 is provided with a windingmechanism 20 that is capable of insertion to or removal from the windingshaft 12, and the corner linking material 8 on the lower side isprovided with a stopping mechanism 40 that is capable of insertion to orremoval from the winding shaft 12.

The aforementioned winding mechanism 20 is linked to the winding shaft12 that supports the corner linking material 6 and 8 on both edges ofthe side frame 4 so as to be capable of rotating, and is to propagatethe pressing force of a spring 25 for winding the screen 11 to thewinding shaft 12, and the aforementioned stopping mechanism 40 iscapable of adjusting the unwinding limit of the screen 11 by therotation of the winding shaft 12.

The configurations of winding mechanism 20 and the stopper mechanism 40will be described in detail below.

First, the corner linking material 6 equipped with the winding mechanism20 on one edge of the side frame 4 housing the aforementioned windingshaft 12 is equipped with an end cover 22 assembled to a linkingmaterial main unit 21 and fixed with screws. The aforementioned endcover 22 forms a room 23 that houses an operating ring 24 between thelinking material main unit 21, but an opening portion can be formed bynotching out one portion thereof (see FIG. 1), and the operating ring 24can be rotated and operated from the outside with the fingertips.Further, on the inside of the operating ring 24 that is in theaforementioned room 23, a clutch mechanism 30 is also housed, and aclutch cylinder 22 a that forms one portion of the clutch mechanism 30is formed integrally on the inner face side of the end cover 22 (seeFIG. 4).

The winding mechanism 20 is equipped with a linking shaft 26 that linksto the clutch cylinder 22 a of the end cover 22, via a clutch mechanism30 described below, and a spring support shaft 28 that is fixed to thelinking shaft 26 and inserted into the winding shaft 12; and provides aspring receptacle 27 as one unit that is fixed on the front edge side ofthe linking shaft 26, and on the spring support shaft 28 a springreceptacle 29 on the winding shaft side that is linked to the inner faceof the winding shaft 12 is supported so as to be capable of rotating,and both edges of the winding spring 25 are wound and fixed on to thespring receptacles 27 and 29.

The spring receptacle 29 on the winding shaft side rotates integrallywith the winding shaft 12 by spline engaging and so forth, but iscapable of movement in the axial direction of the winding shaft 12.Therefore, the winding shaft 12 is linked to the linking shaft 26, viathe spring 25, that is provided in a fixed manner to the corner linkingmaterial 6 via the clutch mechanism 30, and the pressing force in thewinding direction of the winding shaft 26 is provided by this spring 25.

The aforementioned clutch mechanism 30 is such that the linking shaft 26is prevented from rotating by the rotational force from the windingshaft 12 side by linking the linking shaft 26 to the clutch cylinder 22a of the end cover 22 of the corner linking material 6 by the clutchmechanism 30, the rotation of the operating ring 24 that borders on theopening portion of the end cover 22 is propagated to the springreceptacle 29 via the linking shaft 26 and the spring support shaft 28for the purpose of adjusting the pressing force of the spring 25 forwinding the screen 11.

In other words, the spring receptacle 29 can be rotated in eitherforward or backward directions by operating the operating ring 24, andthe rotation of this spring receptacle 29 twists the spring 25 whilerotating the winding shaft 12, and is capable of adjusting the pressingforce of the spring 25.

Next, the configuration of the aforementioned clutch mechanism 30 willbe described in detail.

The clutch cylinder 22 a provided on the inner face of the end cover 22of the aforementioned corner linking material 6 has a clutch spring 31wound thereupon that is pressed in the direction of reduction indiameter, and pressured against the surface of the clutch cylinder 22 a,forming bent portions 31 a each facing the ends of the clutch spring 31.On the other hand, on the base end of the linking shaft 26 is provided acylinder unit 32 that is supported within the clutch cylinder 22 a so asto be capable of rotating, and a pair of protruding portions 33 thatprotrude in the surrounding area of the clutch spring 31 that is woundon to the clutch cylinder 22 a, and further, the operating ring 24 isrotatably fit to the circumferential face of the protruding portions 33,with the engaging protruding portion 24 a provided in a protrudingmanner being introduced on the inner face of this operating ring 24 soas to allow sufficient space between the pair of protruding portions 33.

Further, the pair of bent portions 31 a of the clutch spring 31 ispositioned on both sides of the engaging protruding portion 24 aprovided in a protruding manner from the operating ring 24, between theprotruding portion 33 provided on the base unit of the linking shaft 26.The aforementioned clutch spring 31 is pressed in the diameter reductiondirection within the circumference of the clutch cylinder 22 a, but thedirection for the engaging protruding portion 24 a to press on either ofthe pair of bent portions 31 a of the clutch spring 31, by the rotationof the operating ring 24, is the direction in which the winding diameterof the clutch spring 31 becomes larger and the winding is releasedtoward the clutch cylinder 22 a.

Therefore, by rotating the operating ring 24 on the aforementionedclutch mechanism 30 in either direction, one of the bent portions 31 aof both edges of the clutch spring 31 is engaged with the engagingprotruding portion 24 a provided on the inner face of the operating ring24, and the bent portion 31 a is moved in the direction that the windingdiameter of the clutch spring 31 becomes larger. Therefore, the frictionbetween the clutch spring 31 and the clutch cylinder 22 a is reduced,and the operating ring 24 rotates while pressing down on the protrudingportion 33 of the base unit of the linking shaft 26 by the engagingprotruding portion 24 a, and that rotation is propagated to the linkingshaft 26 and propagated to the spring receptacle 29 via the springsupport shaft 28.

Thus, even if the rotational force acts upon the linking shaft 26 due tothe rotation force and so forth of the winding shaft 12, the directionthat the protruding portion 33 of the linking shaft base unit presses onone of the pair of the bent portions 31 a of the clutch spring 31 is thedirection to make the winding diameter of the clutch spring 31 smallerand strengthen the winding towards the clutch cylinder 22 a, andtherefore, the linking shaft 26 is fixed onto the aforementioned endcover 22 on the corner linking material 6, and the rotational force isnot propagated to the operating ring 24.

Further, between the aforementioned spring support shaft 28 and thewinding shaft 12 is provided an oil damper 35 that houses aone-directional clutch mechanism. The linking of the oil damper 35 andthe spring support shaft 28 is done similar to the aforementioned caseof the spring receptacle 29, wherein the oil damper 35 rotatesintegrally with the winding shaft 12 by spline engaging and so forth,but is capable of moving in the axial direction of the winding shaft 12.

The one-directional clutch mechanism is such that, in the case ofrotating the winding shaft 12 in the direction of spreading the screen 7against the rotational pressing force of the spring 25, the connectionbetween the spring support shaft 28 and the winding shaft 12 isautomatically severed, and when the winding shaft rotates in theopposite direction the winding shaft 12 is linked to the spring supportshaft 28 via the oil damper 35.

The oil damper 35 can be configured so as to comprise a casing that islinked to the spring support shaft 28, and a damping cylinder thatpropagates the rotation via a viscous fluid inside this casing, with thedamping cylinder linked to the winding shaft 12 via a knownone-directional clutch mechanism, but an arrangement with anotherappropriate construction may also be used.

Such an oil damper 35 is effective in damping the impact of the movablerail 13 colliding with the corner linking material 6, and preventing thecollision sound thereof when rewinding the screen 11 with the windingspring 25, but this does not necessarily need to be provided.

The winding mechanism 20 provided on the aforementioned corner linkingmaterial 6 has the linking shaft 26, the spring support shaft 28, thespring receptacle 29, and the oil damper 35, inserted within the windingshaft 12, but the aforementioned spring receptacle 29 and the oil damper35 is engaged and inserted into the winding shaft 12 by spline engagingor the like, and therefore, the winding shaft 12 and the corner linkingmaterial 6 and the winding mechanism 20 are linked so as to bedetachable.

Specifically, the edge portions of the winding shaft 12 are supported onthe circumference of the linking shaft 26 so as to be capable ofrotating, and in this instance, a washer 36 is placed between the shaftedges of the winding shaft 12 and the support face that receives thewinding shaft edges on the linking material main unit 21 within thecorner linking material 6, and supports the edge portions of the windingshaft so as to be capable of rotating.

Next, the aforementioned stopper mechanism 40 that sets the limit forunwinding of the screen 11 provided on the corner linking material 8will be described.

This stopper mechanism 40 is inserted into the winding shaft 12 via aclutch mechanism 50 towards the corner linking material 8, and rotatablylinks the support shaft 41 that support the edge portions of the windingshaft 12 and the screw shaft 42 that protrudes from the front edgethereof, and is screwed to this screw shaft 42 with a nut 43 thatrotates integrally with the winding shaft 12 but that is capable ofmoving in the axial direction of the winding shaft 12. Further, theaforementioned screw shaft 42 is equipped with a stopper 44 that fixesthe limit of the nut 43 for screwing towards the front edge, and isconfigured so that when the winding shaft 12 rotates in the unwindingdirection of the screen 11 along with that rotation, and the nut 43screws toward the stopper 44 along the screw shaft 42 that is in a fixedstate.

The corner linking material 8 is formed so as to be verticallysymmetrical with the aforementioned upper corner linking material 6, andtherefore, similar to the corner linking material 6, is equipped with alinking material main unit 46 and an end cover 47.

Further, the clutch mechanism 50 prevents the rotation of the screwshaft 42 by the rotational force and so forth of the of the windingshaft 12, but the rotation of the operating ring 49 that borders on theopening portion of the end cover 47 of the corner linking material 8 canbe propagated to the screw shaft 42.

Therefore, by operating the aforementioned operating ring 49, the screwshaft 42 can be rotated in either the forward or backward direction, andthe rotation of this screw shaft 42 rotates integrally with the windingshaft 12, but the nut 43 that is capable of moving in the axialdirection of the winding shaft 12 screws in the direction of eitherupper or lower along the screw shaft 42, and thus the distance betweenthe nut 43 and the stopper 44 changes. Therefore, when the screen 11 isunwound by the rotation of the winding shaft 12, the amount of rotationof the winding shaft until the nut 43 reaches the stopper 44 changes,the thus the unwinding limit of the screen 11 can be adjusted.

The configuration of the clutch mechanism 50 is essentially the same tothat of the aforementioned clutch mechanism 30, and the only point thatdiffers from the aforementioned clutch mechanism 30 is that theaforementioned clutch mechanism 30 has a pair of protruding portions 33and a cylinder unit 32 provided on the base edge of the linking shaft26, whereas this clutch mechanism 50 has a cylinder unit and a pair ofprotruding portions that correspond to this cylinder unit 32 andprotruding portion 33 on the base edge of the support shaft 41 that isinserted into the winding shaft 12.

Therefore, the clutch cylinder is provided as one unit on the inner faceof the end cover 47 of the aforementioned corner linking material 8, anda clutch spring 52 is wound thereupon that is pressed in the directionof reduction in diameter, and pressed against the surface of the clutchcylinder, the both edges of the bent portion are positioned on the bothsides of the engaging protruding portion provided in a protruding mannerfrom the inner face of the operating ring 49 that borders on the openingunit of the end cover 47, and these functions do not differ from thecase of the previously described clutch mechanism 30, and therefore thedetailed description thereof will be omitted.

Now, with the aforementioned clutch mechanism 50, when the operatingring 49 is rotated in either direction, the rotation of the operatingring 49 is propagated to the screw shaft 42 and the nut 43 moves, but itgoes without saying that even if the rotational force acts on the screwshaft 42 by the rotations force of the winding shaft 12 and so forth,the screw shaft 42 does not rotate because of the existence of thisclutch mechanism 50, and the rotations force is not propagated to theoperating ring 49.

Further, the aforementioned stopper mechanism 40 has the screw shaft 42provided on the corner linking material 8, whereupon the nut 43 isscrewed, inserted into the winding shaft 12, but the aforementioned nut43 is engaged with the screw shaft 42 by spline engaging and so forth,and therefore, the winding shaft 12 and the corner linking material 8are linked so as to be detachable. Specifically, the edge portion of thewinding shaft 12 is supported on the support shaft 41 of the screw shaft42 so as to be capable of rotating, and in this instance, a washer 53 isplaced between the shaft edge of the winding shaft 12 and the supportface receiving the shaft edge of the winding shaft 12 of the cornerlinking material 8.

Regarding the aforementioned screen device, the guide grooves 2 c and 3c that guide the upper and lower edges of the screen 11 are provided onthe upper and lower frame material 2 and 3, and prevent the upper andlower edges of the screen 11 from derailing from those guide grooves 2 cand 3 c due to an external force such as the wind, but in the case thatit is derailed for some reason, if the screen 11 is wound onto thewinding shaft 12 in this state, one portion of the screen 11 is over thegroove wall of the guide groove, so winding may be performed withwrinkles from that portion, and in that case, the opening and closing ofthe screen 11 becomes unsmooth due to the wrinkles.

In order to avoid this problem, an extension portion 55 of theaforementioned guide grooves 2 c and 3 c are provided in a positionclose to the winding shaft 12, on the corner linking materials 6 and 8that are positioned on the upper and lower edges of the side frame 4,and a guide groove 57 is provided within the area of the winding widthof the screen 11 onto the winding shaft 12, that returns the screen 11that had been derailed from the guide groove within the extensionportion 55 when rewinding onto the winding shaft 12, onto both sidegroove walls 56 that make up the extension portions.

The guide groove 57 is provided in a diagonal direction within the guidegroove extension portion 55 from the outside of the guide grooves 2 cand 3 c, from the direction farther from the side frame 4 towards thedirection closer to the side frame 4, thus, even if one or both of theupper and lower edges of the screen 11 are derailed from the guidegrooves 2 c and 3 c, upon the derailed portion of the screen edge beingwound onto the winding shaft 12, the winding is performed smoothlybecause the edge portion of the screen 11 over the entire winding widthof the screen 11 onto the winding shaft 12 passes through the guidinggroove 57, and wrinkling does not occur with the screen 11.

Further, when the movable rail 13 moves closer to the side frame 4, theportion of the screen 11 that is derailed from the guide groove mustjump the guide grooves 2 c and 3 c or the guide walls of the extensionportions 55 thereof, but because the one edge of the screen 11 is fixedonto the movable rail 13 across the entire width, and the other edge ofthe screen is being properly wound onto the winding shaft 12, force isgenerated to return the screen 11 over the groove wall 56 into the guidegroove extension portion 55, and by moving the movable rail 13 back andforth two or three times at a position close to the side frame 4, thescreen 11 can easily be returned.

As described above, the aforementioned screen device has common upperand lower frame material 2 and 3, and also forms the upper and lowercorner linking materials 6 and 8 to be vertically symmetrical to 7 and9, with the exception of the winding mechanism 20 and the stoppermechanism 40.

Further, both edges of the winding shaft 12 are supported on thesupporting face of the corner linking materials 6 and 8 via the washers36 and 53, so as to be capable of rotating, and can be used smoothlyeven if the screen 1 is turned upside down.

By making such a retractable screen device capable of turning upsidedown, the hanging side is changed between left and right sides in thecase illustrated herein of the single opening screen device, and auser-friendly screen device can be installed.

FIG. 5 illustrates the second embodiment of the present invention, andthis embodiment illustrates the case in which the screen device opens onboth sides.

In the case of this second embodiment, compared to the above-describedfirst embodiment, left and right side frames 64 and 65 that comprise ascreen frame 61 have the same configuration as the side frame 4 of theabove embodiment, which are configured by winding boxes that havewinding shafts 72 a and 72 b for screens 71 a and 71 b, and thereforemovable rails 73 a and 73 b that are fixed on the front edges of theleft and right screens 71 a and 71 b are provided with respectiveengaging latches 78 a and 78 b. In other words, by using the sameconfiguration for the side frame 5 as the side frame 4 of the screendevice in the aforementioned first embodiment, the screen device can beused as the double opening type of the second embodiment, simply bytaking into consideration using mutually engaging latches for themovable rails.

Now, the construction of the second embodiment other than that describedabove does not differ from the case of the first embodiment, and so thedescription thereof will be omitted.

According to the retractable screen device of the present inventiondescribed in detail above, with a screen device wherein a screen iswound onto a winding shaft that uses a spring as a drive source, andautomatically rewinds this screen, in the case of installing this onto abuilding opening portion, the upper and lower frame material and theleft and right side frames of the screen frame are cut to the necessarylength corresponding to the dimensions of the aforementioned openingportion, and can be adjusted easily to the dimensions that fit with thesize of that opening, and when such dimension adjustment is performed,adjusting the winding force of the aforementioned winding mechanism andsetting the screen pullout limit can also be easily performed.

Further, even if the upper and lower edges of the screen derail from theguide groove, rewinding the screen can be performed smoothly.

1. A retractable screen device comprising: a screen frame formed byelongated parallel upper and lower frame members having a fixed crosssection along their entire axis, elongated parallel right and left sideframes having a fixed cross section along their entire axis, and cornerlinking members linking axial ends of said frame members and side framestogether at four corners of said screen frame; a movable rail formed byan elongated rail member having a fixed cross section along its entireaxis, and having axial ends supported slidably by said upper and lowerframe members; a hollow winding shaft situated within one of said sideframes along its axis and supported rotatably about its own axis by saidcorner linking members located at ends of said one side frame, saidwinding shaft being open at both ends; a screen having one of its rightand left edges wound about said winding shaft, the other of its rightand left edges being linked to said movable rail; one of said cornerlinking members at the ends of said one side frame carrying a windingmechanism configured to rotate said winding shaft about its axis by anurging force stored adjustably in a spring, said winding mechanism beingaxially movable for insertion into and removal from said winding shaftso that when said winding mechanism is within said winding shaft, saidwinding mechanism is engaged with said winding shaft about the shaft'saxis to transmit the urging force of said spring thereto; the other ofsaid corner linking members at the ends of said one side frame carryinga stopper mechanism configured to restrict a degree of unwinding of saidscreen by the rotation of said winding shaft, said screen having anadjustable limit of unwinding, said stopper mechanism being axiallymovable for insertion into and removal from said winding shaft so thatwhen said stopper mechanism is within said winding shaft, said stoppermechanism is engaged with said winding shaft about the shaft's axis torestrict a degree of unwinding of said screen to said limit ofunwinding; wherein said stopper mechanism comprises a second clutchmechanism attached to said corner linking member carrying said stoppermechanism, a screw shaft connected to said second clutch shaft andsituated within said winding shaft, a nut engaged threadedly with saidscrew shaft and situated within said winding shaft so as to have itengaged with the inner surface of said winding shaft about the shaft'saxis to rotate therewith and move threadedly along said screw shaft withthe rotation of said winding shaft, and a stopper secured to said screwshaft and situated within said winding shaft to define a limit to thethreaded movement of said nut, said nut being movable threadedly alongsaid screw shaft toward said stopper with the rotation of said windingshaft in the direction of unwinding of said screen; and said secondclutch mechanism including an operating wheel carried by said cornerlinking member carrying said stopper mechanism and operable externallyto transmit its rotation to said screw shaft to adjust said limit ofunwinding of said screen, while preventing said screw shaft from beingrotated by a rotating force transmitted from said winding shaft.
 2. Aretractable screen device comprising: a screen frame formed by elongatedparallel upper and lower frame members having a fixed cross sectionalong their entire axis, elongated parallel right and left side frameshaving a fixed cross section along their entire axis, and corner linkingmembers linking axial ends of said frame members and side framestogether at four corners of said screen frame; a pair of movable railseach formed by an elongated rail member having a fixed cross sectionalong its entire axis, and having axial ends supported slidably by saidupper and lower frame members; a pair of hollow winding shafts eachsituated within one of said side frames along its axis and supportedrotatably about its own axis by said corner linking members located atends of said one side frame, said winding shaft being open at both ends;a pair of screens each having one of its right and left edges woundabout one of said winding shafts, the other of its right and left edgesbeing linked to one of said movable rails; one of said corner linkingmembers at the ends of each of said side frames carrying a windingmechanism configured to rotate one of said winding shafts about its axisby an urging force stored adjustably in a spring, said winding mechanismbeing axially movable for insertion into and removal from said onewinding shaft so that when said winding mechanism is within said onewinding shaft, said winding mechanism is engaged with said winding shaftabout the shaft's axis to transmit the urging force of said springthereto; the other of said corner linking members at the ends of each ofsaid side frames carrying a stopper mechanism configured to restrict adegree of unwinding of one of said screens by the rotation of said onewinding shaft, said one screen having an adjustable limit of unwinding,said stopper mechanism being axially movable for insertion into andremoval from said one winding shaft so that when said stopper mechanismis within said one winding shaft, said stopper mechanism is engaged withsaid winding shaft about the shaft's axis to restrict a degree ofunwinding of said one screen to said limit of unwinding; wherein saideach stopper mechanism comprises a second clutch mechanism attached tosaid corner linking member carrying said each stopper mechanism, a screwshaft connected to said second clutch shaft and situated within saidwinding shaft, a nut engaged threadedly with said screw shaft andsituated within said winding shaft so as to have it engaged with theinner surface of said winding shaft about the shaft's axis to rotatetherewith and move threadedly along said screw shaft with the rotationof said winding shaft, and a stopper secured to said screw shaft andsituated within said winding shaft to define a limit to the threadedmovement of said nut, said nut being movable threadedly along said screwshaft toward said stopper with the rotation of said winding shaft in thedirection of unwinding of said screen; and said second clutch mechanismincluding an operating wheel carried by said corner linking membercarrying said each stopper mechanism and operable externally to transmitits rotation to said screw shaft to adjust said limit of unwinding ofsaid screen, while preventing said screw shaft from being rotated by arotating force transmitted from said winding shaft.